Friday, June 24, 2011

Hither and thither 6/24/11

Important stuff first: my dear wife continues to do well, except for a nasty, persistent headache that started in the hospital — so it's kept hammering her for maybe ten days now. It's actually bothering her more than the incision, which is bad and good. She's seeing the doc about it again today. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

And now, less importantly, all this!
  • Many of you will identify as well: I've found a good image for how I feel from time to time.
  • Remarkable read, considering that it's from the NYT, and by a homosexual writer: My Ex-Gay [sic] Friend.
  • Robert Sakovic noted an interesting reflection on the previous NYT piece, focusing on the writer's repeated and undefined use of "fundamentalist." (One relatively mild profanity features appropriately, IMHO.)
  • Has Jon Huntsman dropped out of the presidential primaries yet? No? Dang. Anyone with such a lame launch has ZERO chance against BO and the MSM. Plus: really? Do we want to run McCain 2.0 against Obama? Hard to fight something with nothing, I always say.

  • So, if atheists in NY think it's a worthwhile use of time and resources to throw a fit over a sign referring to "Heaven" because it's "a totally religious statement," can Christians do the same over totally non-religious statements?
  • Problem with that: there's no such thing. (Thx Robert Sakovich for link)
  • Finally, from the Museum of Unmarketable Skills:
  • Well, that, and these:

24 comments:

Susan said...

First...first? Am I first??

(It's okay if someone beats me. Just wanted to get that question out of my system.) :)

Quickly, then, since I have to wake up early for work: I used to love Mad Magazine when I was younger (even though some dubious things in there made me cringe). But Spy vs. Spy made into a movie...don't think I'll watch it. I think their movie parodies are better, or just parodies in general. One of my favorite things by them was a Chinese menu replete with English re-translations: Items such as "Beef with More Beef" and "Orange-Flavored MSG" were listed, and one would get 50 lbs. of white rice with every order!

Robert said...

Gumballs and bouncing balls mixed together?! Talk about an epic fail...and it just scares me as a parent even though we don't get the kids gum from those machines anyways.

That case in Corpus Christi is crazy. Do people really think that spanking is not used for discpline any more? Somebody should appeal that case for her.

Neil said...

Now my head is full of the roadrunner song. I don't appreciate this.

CR said...

I am hoping Gov Rick Perry from Texas gets in the race otherwise it's probably a Romney nomination.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that article about the converted homosexual man is really moving (even though I suppose I was supposed to be moved in the opposite direction). It usually (to me, at least) seems hopeless for a man who's been totally immersed in homosexuality to truly repent of it, because you so seldom see that. I'm glad his friend is doing just that. Makes me very sympathetic to how difficult it must be to repent of a sin that the world is encouraging you to revel in - even writing articles about you, admonishing you for "going back in the closet." These people need so much prayer to stay on the right path. This is no ordinary sin.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Doin' the happy Friday dance :D

LOVE the skeleton/anatomy of cartoon characters.

Julie

Robert said...

Wow...just read the story of the girl being bullied on the bus. And then followed the links on the left side to follow-ups on that story and one of the people representing the schools said that it was the fault of the news team. They are trying to cover up their tracks instead of worrying about the kids being attacked...simply ridiculous.

One of the reasons we have decided to homeschool is that our son was being bullied and the school couldn't tell us how they were disciplining the child (although the worst they can do is suspension...after more than 3 incidents). They won't even label it as bullying even though the same child has physically harassed our son multiple times over more than one school year. I wonder if the people making the laws ever think about what kind of message that sends to the bullies.

Wendy said...

Yay for H&T! After my first full week of my business being alive and taking orders, this was a welcome diversion :)

I like the Chinese animals; I've been tempted many times to dye my cats fur and/or dress them up to look like different animals.
I dyed my sons hair red and green for Christmas; I'm thinking I should have been more creative.

JG said...

I guess I'm the only one, but I have a hard time mustering up much indignation over the bullied child *toward the school.* This woman claims her daughter has been bullied every day on the bus for weeks and still puts her on every day? That doesn't sound like a failure of the education system to me. But what do I know, I'm just a kid.

Anonymous said...

It does all go back to the parents, doesn't it?

Paula Bolyard said...

That mother who continued to put her child on that bus day after day after day, knowing she would be harmed should be charged with child endangering. Sure, the school has some responsibility, but ultimately, it's the parents' job to make sure their children are in a safe environment. It's no different than knowingly leaving them with a babysitter who is a known child abuser.

@CR....the same Rick Perry who signed an executive order forcing all TX school girls to get the Gardasil vaccine to "protect" them from STD's? And the Rick Perry who endorsed pro-abortion candidate Rudy Guilianni for president? Ultimately, he didn't veto the bill the legislature sent him to overturn his executive order (neither did he sign it) and he eventually supported McCain (not that that's much better), but those are a couple concerns I have about him.

Still, I like him better than: Paul, Romney, Pawlenty, Huntsman, Gingrich, Cain, and Palin. If you're keeping score, that leaves Santorum and Bachmann on my short list (though I could live with Pawlenty).

Paula Bolyard said...

Oh, and for Valerie....

First, IANAD (I am not a doctor), but...

as someone who is quite accomplished at the art of headaches, I have a couple special OTC cocktails that (don't ask me why) will sometimes work even when the heavy duty narcotics fail:

One Excedrin and two Benadryls

Three Excedrins (lots of caffeine though, so don't expect to sleep!)

Three Dramamines at bedtime

Of course, not all of these at the same time and obviously, check for interactions with other meds she's taking. The three Dramamines worked one time after spending half a day in the ER with a migraine while we were on vacation. IV Imitrex and Demerol didn't touch it. We had a 30 hour drive home and just needed to sleep. I took the Dramamine, which knocked me out for a couple hours and the headache finally broke.

Sometimes reactions to anesthesia can cause nasty headaches. Praying that it's nothing more serious and that she finds relief soon. It just adds insult to injury :(

Robert said...

I think it is easy to line up against the parent here and say how dare she put her child back on the bus when we don't know all of the facts. I've seen people show Rick Warren and Brian McLaren more grace than what I am seeing here. We do know that the school system there has been negligent...and from what I read in the follow-up stories, they have even been covering things up.

I am sure there are many people who might see my youngest son yell and scream sometimes and wonder why I'm not discipling him better or if I am disciplining him too much. Of course, they wouldn't know that he is autistic and he has extreme fears and heightened senses that make it hard for him to handle things as well as our other son. That doesn't mean that I don't discipline him, but it means that I have do be very discerning about how to do so and when it is appropriate.

I am only saying this in hopes that we might all show more grace before dropping the hammer on people. And I am sure we have all been on the receiving end before.

Paula Bolyard said...

I don't know about that, Robert. Your situation is completely different. Your child is not in immediate physical danger. From the mother:

“She continues to get hurt. Why? That hurts as a parent”.

“She has come home with sores and bumps and even scars up under her neck from certain things being hit on her”

She claims this small child is being tortured daily, punched, hit by other kids, her glasses broken twice and the torment has been going on for months now.


What kind of parent allows her child to be punched, hit, and tortured daily? It's cruel and abusive to force a 4-YEAR-OLD CHILD to endure that every day! An average 4-year-old weighs 35 lbs!!

Aside from the physical scars, that child will have emotional scars as well, knowing that her mother knew she was being hurt and did not stop it. There is no excuse for that.

CR said...

That same Perry, Paula. He's not perfect. I don't think Bachmann has a chance of getting the nomination. Pawlenty - {yawn}.

Perry is conservative and a Christian and gave that great speech in the Republican National Conference. I also think Perry has the best chance of beating Romney while some polls show Bachmann making some gains.

The only reason why Romney didn't get the nomination last time was because Huckabee got a lot of Christian vote. I think Perry could garner those votes again.

Paula Bolyard said...

It will be interesting to see how Perry's big prayer shindig in Houston goes later this summer. Lot's of potential for something like that to go off-the-rails (in a creepy Joel Osteen or Jimmy Swaggart sorta way). It could end up being badly exploited by the MSM. Gotta give him props for the effort and publicly acknowledging the the need to cry out to God at this time in our country's history.

Robert Warren said...

Re: Wild Goose Festival

I wonder if McLaren negotiated to close the show by playing the Star Spangled Banner at 6:30 AM in front of an empty field of trash...on his accordion.

Aaron said...

I'll have to stay out of Corpus...don't want to get arrested....

I can't wait for Dan's book on Proverbs, just to read that subject. I always find two extremes. Those who don't spank under any circumstance and those who think spanking is the only "authorized" punishment in the Bible. Some of those also think they must use a "rod."

The Texas spanking story and the bus story are not coincidental. If parents disciplined their kids there wouldn't be kids beating other kids on the bus.

I'm with Paula on this one, too. You don't put your kid back on the bus if you think they are going to get hurt. I don't care if they are 4 or 14.

@Robert: I'm sorry to hear about your son. I hope it works out. Public schools can't work anymore because the other parents and teachers don't share our values. It's like hiring a housekeeper who believes the best way to clean the house is to spread sand all over the floor. You can argue about what mop you want her to use but at the end of the day you have a fundamental difference on what clean means.

Aaron said...

@CR: Conservatives here have been pretty critical of Perry. But now a lot of us here in Texas want him to run, including myself, because we're tired of an administration punishing Texas. The only reason why Texas doesn't have more jobs is because of the shameful depletion of NASA and the oil drilling ban.

Susan said...

Okay, I only got through 2 articles (that goes to show how loaded H&T is)....

1. The "ex-gay friend" article is good read and thought-provoking. The quote that stopped me was:

“You have to understand something,” he said, leaning forward in his chair. “I don’t see people as gay anymore. I don’t see you as gay. I don’t see him as gay. God creates us heterosexual. We may get other ideas in our head about what we are, and I certainly did, but that doesn’t mean they’re the truth.”

It's so enlightening to hear a ex-gay male say this. Moreover, it reminds me of Dan's post at Pyro the other day. When we encounter God's Word and it rubs us the wrong way, we either change our thinking or reinterpret the text. Seems to me this gay-turned-straight guy has chosen the former.

2. That "get-your-colon-checked" article from Julie is hilarious! Does anyone remember that SNL "commercial" advertising Colon Blow Cereal? (Thankfully, I won't have to worry about colonoscopy for quite a while!!)

Solameanie said...

Dan,

If you don't mind a medical tip for Valerie, there is a possibility that her headaches might be connected to the pain medicine that she's on, oddly enough. When I was in the hospital the last time for kidney stone surgery, they had me on a Dilaudid drip, and while it helped with the kidney pain, a headache seemed to be a side effect of it, at least with me.

Might be worth checking. We're continuing to pray for her and your family.

P.D. Nelson said...

Glad to see the H&T once again I appreciated the Dave Barry column since I went through multiple colonoscopies when I was diagnosed four years ago with a tumor attached to my stomach. Surgery got it all so I am very sympathetic to your wife's recovery. And continue to pray for her well being.

Again thanks for doing what your doing.

NoLongerBlind said...

Hello - I must confess, I am a "Mr. Over-50-and-haven't-had-a-colonoscopy" guy.

Thanks for the hilarious motivational article.

Reproof received - I'm going to get one.

DJP said...

Yay! Win!!

You do that. Your family needs you.